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Breskvice {peaches}

Well the name says it all, really. Breskvice translates to peaches. Can you see why? This is another one of those sweet little treats that conjure memories of visiting family friends and relatives when I was very young. I always thought these cookies, well they’re actually more of a cake, were a bit posh; brought out after dinner when the adults drank little black coffees as the evening wound down. We were never allowed to drink coffee in our pre-teens so we just tucked into the array of cakes and pastries that were almost always a dazzling sight.

There’s a bit of work in these things but I’ve got to say the outcome is a definite reward for your labours. Just make sure you roll the dough into perfect balls otherwise your little peaches won’t look so peachy. Also, try to ignore the oil content. Once it’s spread over two dozen cookies it won’t seem so sinful.

breskvice

makes 24

2 cups sugar

1½ cups vegetable oil

1 cup milk

4 eggs

1½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla paste, or extract

6 cups plain flour (approx)

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, oil, milk, eggs, baking powder and vanilla. Blend enough of the flour to form a soft dough.

Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and bake on a lined cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes. The cookies should be pale in colour and not at all golden. Cool completely.

filling:

1 cup cookie crumbs

1 cup ground walnuts

1 cup apricot jam

1 tbsp bourbon or rum

¼ tsp cinnamon

Using a paring knife, carefully cut a circle in the bottom of each cookie and scoop out the centre. Place the cookie crumbs into a food processor and blitz for several seconds until it resembles coarse sand.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the 1 cup of cookie crumbs, ground walnuts, jam, bourbon and cinnamon and mix well. Using a teaspoon, scoop a little of the mixture into the cavity of half the cookies and press another half on top to sandwich them together. Gently squeeze them together until both cookies touch. If any of the filling squeezes out just wipe it away with your finger, making sure there’s no filling residue at the join. Set aside.

sugar topping:

¼ cup milk

¼ cup peach brandy

Pink and yellow food colouring

1 cup caster sugar

Place the milk in one bowl and add about 4-5 drops of the pink and 2 drops of yellow food colouring.

Place the peach brandy into another bowl and add 3-4 drops of yellow food colouring.

Place the sugar into a third bowl.

Take each filled cookie and carefully dip one half into the coloured milk and then the other half into the coloured brandy. Quickly and gently remove any excess liquid by dabbing the cookie onto a clean sponge or paper towels laid on the bench. (Remember you’re using food colouring so make sure your work bench is protected from splashes). Place the damp cookie into the sugar bowl and toss around to coat the entire cookie, shaking off any excess.